Tenacious offensive production from the bench and a dominating advantage in rebounding capped off a nationally televised victory for the University at Buffalo men's basketball team Saturday afternoon.
Entertaining the sixth-largest crowd in the history of Alumni Arena, the Bulls (15-7, 8-6 MAC) legitimized their pursuit for a Mid-American Conference title as they bounced Ball State (12-9, 7-6 MAC) 67-58 in front of 5,989 vivacious fans in UB's first-ever nationally televised game, aired on ESPN2.
"The crowd was great, they gave us a boost when we were down," said the Bulls' senior point guard, Turner Battle. "It was a great atmosphere to play in."
After racing out to an early first-half lead and subsequently squandering it, the Bulls were able to battle back to claim the victory, thanks in part to an electrifying jam that served in jumpstarting the crowd while blanketing any second-half semblance of Ball State's offensive attack.
"It got very loud in here," said UB head coach Reggie Witherspoon. "That's why it's so hard to win on the road in this conference. Sometimes, momentum can really change things a little bit. That's happened to us on the road, and it happened in here. It energized our crowd, it energized our guys, and we feed off each other."
Worthy of being recognized - although ignored - as one of ESPN's top 10 plays of the day, Mark Bortz's slam dunk off an ally-oop pass from Turner Battle with 10:07 left to play not only tied the score at 48, but roused the crowd and provided the Bulls with the crucial offensive spark they needed to calm the Cardinals and claim the victory.
"I really think that was the turning point in the game, the crowd from there was just insane, they gave us a boost like I have never seen before," said Bortz, who finished with 13 points and seven rebounds. "It's a play we run all year, and we know what to do with it. (Battle) and I have run it so much, he puts it anywhere near the rim and ill go get it."
The Bulls took the lead for good on the next possession when sophomore Yassin "The Dream" Idbihi grabbed one of his game-high 12 boards, successfully converting the put-back to give UB the two-point, 50-48 advantage with 9:40 left to play.
"When I came to America this is what my goal was - to have a big crowd, to be on national TV and have a lot of people watching us," said Idbihi, the Moroccan native who finished the night with eight points. "It's like a dream come true, and I want the dream to continue."
While Ball State was able to cut the Bulls' lead to one point on a Peyton Stovall lay-up with 3:12 left in the game, that was as close as the Cardinals would get, ultimately failing to convert their last four possessions of the game into points.
"We played a very good first half with a lot of energy and passion," said Ball State head coach Tim Buckley. "In the second half, we have to do a better job of battling. When Buffalo made the momentum plays in the second half, unfortunately we didn't execute the game plan."
The Bulls jumped out to an early lead in the first half, winning by as many as 11 points midway through the first half. The lead would not stand, however, as the Bulls were plagued by turnovers, ultimately allowing the Cardinals to ensue on a lopsided 15-2 scoring run over the Bulls.
Ball State eventually took a 23-21 lead with 3:46 left in the half on a made lay-up by Terrance Chapman.
The Bulls spent much of the second half of play battling to get the offensive ball rolling against the Cardinals. Entering the second stanza down by four, the Bulls used the energy of the crowd to push the pace and chip away at the Ball State lead.
"I thought our student section did a great job representing the University and providing us with a great deal of energy because we needed it all," said Witherspoon. "We got the ball inside and forced them to deal with our size and I think that helped us get open shots from the perimeter too."
With 11 players seeing game action, Witherspoon, celebrating his 100th career victory, utilized his deep bench, and essentially the tactic he employed paid dividends.
Thirty-six of UB's 67 points were poured in by players not in the starting lineup. Leading the barrage of buckets from the bench were Bortz and Calvin Cage.
"The game is the game, we know when we come in, the game is like a mission and we know when we come in our job is to pick the team up and take it to the next level," said Cage, who connected on key shots in the second half to spark the Bulls' offense.
"We have a dangerous team, anyone can step up and in the second half Calvin gave us a boost," said Battle. "He came in and hit some big shots for us."
Cage finished the day with 10 points, all scored in the second half.
In addition to Idbihi's 12 rebounds, Bortz and Battle also played a large role in crashing the boards, with each grabbing seven on the day. When all was said and done, the Bulls had out-rebounded the Cardinals 46-29, with 33 rebounds coming in on the defensive end.
"I think it was important to rebound, I have been working on it, and I have had some problems rebounding, " Idbihi added. "It's just a mindset, and this game it worked out."
Battle led the Bulls in scoring, throwing in 14 points, complimented by his seven rebounds and four assists. Bortz finished with 13 points, while Cage and Mario Jordan each netted 10 points a piece.
Stovall was the Cardinals' high-scorer on the day, tossing in 17 points, while Terrance Chapman added 12 points and five rebounds.
The Bulls are in a must-win situation if they plan on staying in contention for a first round bye into the MAC tournament. UB is set to host Kent State (14-7, 8-5 MAC) on Tuesday night at Alumni Arena. The Golden Flashes are currently sitting in second place in the MAC East division while most recently suffering a loss to Bowling Green (14-7, 8-5 MAC). The game is scheduled for a 7 p.m. tip-off.
Photo: Courtesy of Matthew Messina, from the RMBERS' Instagram page
